CFB: What's Slithering in the Pipes?
by pugatron
Summary: Carina is back! Welcome to her second year in Hogwarts as she and her friends solve the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. A new teacher? Odd behavior? Finding out who the Heir is will be a challenge indeed. Certainly circumstantial catastrophes involving lots of mischief will definitely occur as they figure out what exactly is slipping around the stone halls of Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

~Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, that honor belongs to the Queen, JK Rowling. ~

 _ **A/N: Welcome…to the Second book in Carina's curious catastrophe of a story. The first one's called Carina F Black: An Unusual Home, but I think this can be read stand-alone (reading the first one will give a better understanding though). Keep a sharp eye out for random references—I can't help myself from making them; it's so fun. So, hope you enjoy the title ***_ _ **lenny face**_ _ ***, and here we go!**_

 _ **Also, character thoughts are in this font—bold italics**_

 _ **Spells are**_ _italics_

 _ **Handwriting is usually**_ _italics_ _ **as well.**_

 **~Chapter 1: Pretty Odd Occurrences Occur~**

Boredom. Seems like the pinnacle of a summer vacation, but nothing could compare to this practically living hell that was Texas. It was hot, boring, and going outside for one hour each day was practically torture—and Carina would know. She was currently hanging upside down on her bed, wavy crimson hair beyond reaching the floor and dragging as she moaned to her best friend, Mary.

"Bored!" she droned.

Mary paid absolutely no attention and continued scribbling on a beige parchment.

"BORED!" shouted Carina loudly in a monotone voice.

Mary finally looked up with an exasperated look.

"What do you want me to do?!" she sighed, finally putting down the quill.

"Anything! Go tap-dance, that'll keep me amused." said Carina sarcastically.

Mary rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I'll tap-dance—when Bombur grows golden wings and flies out the window." she retorted.

"That could happen." Carina said, beginning to sit up.

"Don't perform Transfiguration on your dog—he's had enough when you turned him a blinding yellow." reprimanded Mary.

They had been able to use magic outside of school, given that they lived in a different country and continent. Carina had found this out shortly after they'd arrived back to the orphanage—around June-ish. She had just received a huge load of trash that she'd been forced to take out. And a little spell never hurt anyone—right?

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The trash had risen out of her hands as Carina directed it towards the ugly forest green dumpster. It landed with a satisfactory 'plop' and she walked back inside smugly. They could use magic. No fiery Dumbledore burst out of her fireplace, no owl came expelling them from Hogwarts for life, and best of all, no restrictions on magic!

She had walked into her room, only to be greeted by her overly excited dog and she decided to just throw her wand on the counter. That, was a very bad idea. A pale pink light had shot out of her rowan wand and hit her pug, right on his dark chubby folds. He had turned an obnoxiously bright shade of yellow. The late afternoon light had only illuminated him even more, and Carina nearly went blind at how shiny he was. Mary had to come into the room with sunglasses to turn him back to his glossy shade of black.

"That technically wasn't my fault." scoffed Carina.

"Yeah, and me getting a higher grade than you in History of Magic is totally not your fault."

"Well, I didn't study at all, so that's reasonable." shrugged Carina.

Mary had no reply—she instead continued writing a letter to Harry. He hadn't been replying to their mail all summer, and to be perfectly honest, they were growing a bit worried. Ron and Hermione also reported that he hadn't replied to a single one of their letters, and not even Hagrid could get a reply out of him.

Ron had planned a rescue mission, but it was cut short by Harry receiving a letter on not using magic outside of school—that surely must've pissed off the Dursleys. Apparently, Mr. Weasley, Ron's dad, worked at the Ministry and kept up to date on lots of things that happened in the Wizarding World.

"We should ask Ron when we can go over—I don't want to be packing last minute like always," said Mary.

"You always say that, yet, we always pack late and get there late," said Carina monotonously.

"Hey…isn't that Specks' owl?" Mary squinted to the window.

Carina flipped over with a heavy thud. She groaned. That was **not** a soft landing.

"What does it say?" Carina asked, sitting crisscross on the dark wooden floor.

Mary didn't reply; she was still reading the, what looked like hasty handwriting.

"He says that they're going to try and get Harry; sometime this week." said Mary, scanning the parchment again. Errol, Ron's owl, was passed out in Maya's cage, drinking water like his life depended on it.

"Maybe we should go this week, because my birthday tomorrow too, and who better to spend it with than the Weasleys?" said Carina reasonably.

"We'd better ask Ms. Campbell—she won't like it if we just go unannounced." Mary said uncertainly.

"We should pack first—then we can just leave when we ask her," said Carina.

"That sounds good. Hopefully the trolls leave us alone." said Mary with a faint smirk. And she left the room quickly.

The "trolls" were their archenemies at the orphanage, Lindsey and Eve. A new one had joined them, Tina. Poor Tina. She was now the victim of several, now magical, pranks.

Carina quickly crammed whatever clothes she deemed worthy of going. Currently stylish jean jacket—check. Random T-shirts with pugs on them—check. Two pairs of dark jeans she surely would wear over and over till they went to Hogwarts—check. Slightly dirty black shoes—check. Their school trunk already had all their things in it—except their wands, of course, and the Prankbook.

"LEO! I'm done packing!" she roared out.

"ME TOO!" Mary called back.

"Let's owl Specks." said Carina after Mary had walked into the room.

"I told him in our last letter, though—he said we could just drop by anytime." said Mary.

"Oh, alright then, lets Floo over!"

Carina grabbed her few packing of clothes and crammed them into her school trunk. Hopefully none of her potions things would break. What was she going to do about Bombur, though? Eh, he fit in the leather satchel last time; maybe he'll fit again. She grabbed the fat pug and put him in her light brown bag. The dog fit perfectly in the soft bag and he poked his head out.

"Aw, you're so cute!" cooed Carina.

Bombur closed his eyes as Carina scratched his head.

 _ **Why are pugs so freaking cute?**_

"Padfoot! Let's go!" called Mary from down the florally decorated hall.

"Going!"

Carina took one last look into her messy room. It would certainly be a long time before she set foot in there again. She went to join Mary, who was already in Ms. Campbell's office.

"Ms. Campbell, Carina and I were wondering if we could go to the Burrow for the rest of the holiday?" said Mary smoothly.

"You'd better be on your best behavior; I don't want to hear about your "mishaps" from Mrs. Weasley." said Ms. Campbell sternly.

"Yeah, we know." groaned Carina.

"All right, here's some money to buy your things when you go to Diagon Alley, I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will take you." said Ms. Campbell, reaching into another of her many porcelain bowls. She had a small red, velvet bag. It was also chock-full of galleons.

"Thank you, Ms. Campbell." said Mary politely.

"Alright, you remember how to do it?" asked Ms. Campbell.

"Yep, throw the Floo powder, walk into the fire, and say 'The Burrow,'" said Carina, who was rather bored.

"Okay, go along."

This time, Carina went first. She threw the dull green powder into the dim fireplace. An emerald green flame rose immediately and she walked into it. Her school trunk was next to her as she walked up next to it.

"The Burrow!" she said, mouthful of ash.

Ms. Campbell's office disappeared as she swirled around many different places. Once it stopped, she fell out, just like last time.

"Why is it always me?!" she groaned from her new surroundings.

"Oh, hello dear." said a sweet voice.

"Hi, Mrs. Weasley." said Carina, sitting up. Bombur demanded attention as he burst out from the leather bag at her side.

"Who's that?" asked Mrs. Weasley curiously.

"This, is Bombur," said Carina, motioning to the small dog that was sniffing all around the kitchen.

Another figure shot out of the fireplace. Mary landed with a smug smile. Carina glared at her.

"Fall over again, Padfoot?" Mary sang.

"Well, I think I did…I don't know why I would sit in front of a green fireplace for any reason than that." said Carina sarcastically.

Mrs. Weasley let out a small smile at that.

"Are you hungry, dears?"

"No, thank you," said both girls at once.

"Merlin, and I thought it was creepy when the twins did that." said Mrs. Weasley under her breath as she turned around.

Carina looked around. It was the strangest house she'd ever been in. A clock on the wall had no numbers; rather things to do, like feed the chickens. Another one had no numbers either, but the hands had names. Eight of the hands were pointing to the "Home" position, but one of them, Mr. Weasley's was at "Work". Books lined the cabinets of the kitchen. Copies of "How to Charm your own Cheese" and "Conjuring Feasts; it's Easy!" were some of the odd books in the shelves.

"It's a bit early, dears, I'm sure the boys will still be asleep," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, all right," said Mary uncertainly.

"I'll show you to Ginny's room, where you'll be staying." and Mrs. Weasley led them up the rickety wooden steps of the Burrow. Several pictures lined the mismatched floors as they went steadily higher until they reached a white door.

"Ginny, dear, are you awake?" asked Mrs. Weasley, knocking loudly on the door.

"Yeah!" said a slightly groggy voice from inside.

A very disheveled Ginny Weasley opened the door. Upon noticing them, she shook her head quickly.

"Wait!" she squeaked. "Don't come in just yet." and she slammed the door in their faces.

A loud rustling came from the room as Ginny moved around quickly. Carina gave a look to Mary, who returned it as well.

"Okay, you can come in now." called a muffled Ginny.

It was a small room, but it had a nice view from the window on the side. The walls were painted a faint pale pink and several posters of the Holyhead Harpies were plastered on the walls. The furniture was a rather large bed and white bed table next to it. The dressing table was pushed towards the side of the room, as to give the window more space. Green hills rolled across the countryside from the big window.

"Nice undies." smirked Mary as she saw a broomstick-covered underwear peeking out from under the bed.

Ginny turned brick red and shoved them further into the depths of the underside of the bed.

"Er—it's not much, but—"

"It's awesome!" exclaimed Carina.

"Oh, er—thanks." said an uncertain Ginny.

A loud scream made her eyebrows shoot up quickly.

"HOW DARE THEY?!"

Carina curiously poked her head out of Ginny's pale pink room.

Mrs. Weasley was storming down from the very top floor, a very angry expression on her face.

"No note, no nothing! Where could they have gone!" they heard her exclaim under her breath.

 _ **Have they…left?**_

Carina was furious. They must've gone to get Harry without them! On her birthday!

"How dare they!" she hissed under her breath.

"What happened?" asked an equally curious Ginny and Mary.

"Your brothers went to get Prongs without us!" she exclaimed, shutting the door.

Mary gasped, and Ginny frowned.

"Prongs?" she questioned.

"Harry." said Carina, clearing it up.

"Oh." said a still-confused Ginny.

"That's his nickname," said Mary. "I'm Leo, Carina's Padfoot, Ron's Specks, Hermione's Moony, and Harry's Prongs."

"Oh!" said Ginny, finally understanding.

 _ **Time to get even.**_

"Hey Ginny, want to help us get your brothers back?" asked Carina, mischievous smile already forming.

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" sang Mary, smirking evilly.

"Alright then!" smiled a very excited Ginny.

Carina pulled the Prankbook out of her very messy trunk.

"Prepare to be amazed, Gin." said Carina. Her smile would give McGonagall the chills, that's for sure. She went to sit next to Mary on Ginny's flower pink carpet.

Ginny's eyes widened, almost comically, as Carina uttered the phrase, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

~CFB~

They'd brewed lots of potions over the summer, specifically for pranking, though. It gave them plenty of time to plan for next year's pranks. They had all argued over what to do to them, but in the end, Ginny's plan worked best. Who would've known the twin's sister was just as clever as they were.

Her plan was to put generous amounts of a potion Ginny picked from their very wide selection all over their doorframe. It was a—curious choice, Carina would give her that. Let's just say the twins would be forced into some rather, feminine clothes as soon as they walked into their room, and only them, Ron, and Harry would be affected.

A loud roar came from the outside. Ginny nearly fell from the small step-ladder they had placed to reach the tall doorframe and Carina wobbled on the spot as she wasn't used to her current height.

"BEDS EMPTY! NO NOTE! CAR GONE—COULD HAVE CRASHED—OUT OF MY MIND WITH WORRY—DID YOU CARE? NEVER, AS LONG AS I'VE LIVED—YOU WAIT UNTIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME, WE NEVER HAD TROUBLE LIKE THIS FROM BILL OR CHARLIE OR PERCY—" screeched Mrs. Weasley.

Something must've interrupted her rant.

"They must be home; are you finished?" asked a worried Mary.

"Yes, let's hope they walk right into their rooms right now." said Ginny, an evil laugh ending her sentence.

She was rather scary when she did that. Carina walked down the stairs as Mrs. Weasley continued screaming.

"YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK! You could have died, you could have been seen, you could have lost your father his job—"

Mrs. Weasley got steadily quieter as her scolding continued. They couldn't hear much as they glanced out of the small square window.

"She's walking back!" warned Ginny, who ran into the living room.

Carina followed her quickly as a loud bang that meant the door was open and Mrs. Weasley was still not very happy with her sons.

More banging and crashes followed, and Carina assumed she was cooking something. She nodded to Mary and Ginny, who were sitting together on the large couch.

"Safe." she mouthed.

They nodded and walked into the small kitchen. Two very pale Weasley twins sat next to a slightly green Ron and an anxious Harry.

"Padfoot!" exclaimed Harry.

"Prongs." she said snippily.

"What happened with our letters?" asked Mary, getting straight to the point.

"Prongs here, was locked in his bedroom for most of the summer." said Ron.

"Locked?" asked Carina, eyebrows shooting up quickly.

"Erm—they might've figured out I can't use magic over summer break." said Harry.

"How did you go get him?" asked Mary, turning towards a slightly flushed Fred.

"They flew an illegal car halfway across the country!" bellowed Mrs. Weasley angrily, as she fried several eggs and sausages in record speed.

 _ **They flew! Without them! In a car!**_

"It was cloudy, Mum!" said Fred.

"You keep your mouth closed while you're eating!" snapped Mrs. Weasley.

"They were starving him, Mum!" exclaimed George.

 _ **Starving him?! Oh—no, they will most certainly pay.**_

"Hey Prongs, mind if I see your glasses? It'll only take a second." said Carina, a dangerous sweetness to her voice.

Harry, remembering her threat to the Dursley's from the previous year, handed them to her without a word.

She inspected them carefully. There didn't seem to be anything broken—but she would still get them for starving Harry. Carina narrowed her eyes.

"Here, Prongs." and she handed them back to Harry.

Mrs. Weasley came and started buttering toast and handing it to each of them.

A small murmur of thanks was heard. Carina turned curiously. Ginny hadn't joined them when they walked in like she'd previously thought. So where did she go? At that precise moment, a slumped figure walked into the cramped kitchen. Ginny's wide brown eyes darted around quickly, and with a loud squeak, she ran out of the room.

Carina smirked. Looks like youngest Weasley has a crush on Prongsie. She could clearly hear Ron explain about how Ginny talked about him all summer, which confirmed her suspicions.

"Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry," said Fred in a joking voice, but Mrs. Weasley glared at him so hard, Carina was slightly surprised when he didn't spontaneously combust.

The rest of the awkward breakfast continued with a long silence. No one dared uttered a word under Mrs. Weasley's scalding gaze.

The terse silence was broken by a loud yawn from Fred.

"Blimey, I'm tired," groaned Fred, putting his fork down. "I think I'll go to bed and—"

"You will not," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again—"

"Oh, Mum—" groaned George.

"And you two," she added, glaring particularly at Ron and George. She turned to Harry quickly, and Carina was shocked at her change in demeanor. "You can go up to bed, dear, you didn't ask them to fly that wretched car—"

"I'll help Ron. I've never seen a de-gnoming—" said a curious Harry.

"That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work," said Mrs. Weasley. She turned to Carina and Mary. "You two girls can also go up to bed—you must be tired after traveling such a long way." she said sweetly, starkly contrasting her previous manner.

"Um, that's fine," said Carina, eyes wide after seeing Mrs. Weasley destroy the twins. "I'm with Prongs—Harry—I've never seen a de-gnoming." she said quickly.

Mary nodded furiously along with Carina.

"Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject—" continued Mrs. Weasley.

She pulled a large book from the many shelves in the kitchen. The twins let out a loud groan.

"Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden—" said George with an eye-roll.

The book was a lavender color and the fancy gold script along the top read "Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests" A beaming wizard that probably would be attractive to crazy people, kept winking at them from the moving photograph. The too-pretty-for-real-life wizard had wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes—although, no one could compare to Dumbledore's glinting blue eyes.

Mrs. Weasley smiled happily at him.

"Oh, he is marvelous," she sighed. "He knows his household pests, all right, it's a wonderful book…"

"Mum fancies him," said Fred, in a loud whisper.

Carina snickered as Mrs. Weasley turned a faint shade of pink.

"Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," said Mrs. Weasley, "All right, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it."

A unanimous groan escaped the Weasley's as they dragged their feet out to the steadily rising dawn.

~CFB~

Carina soon discovered, that a de-gnoming was indeed very boring. The potato shaped "gnomes" waddled around the wild garden as they bent down to grab them from their flower bushes. It was slightly entertaining at first, as Ron began to circle it over his head until he let it go, but then Carina figured out that they didn't like being thrown high out of a garden. One bit her hand pretty hard and she screamed a bit as the damned thing kept its fangs in her wrist.

It flew off, what must've been fifty feet, as she pried it off with her other hand quickly. Carina did laugh, however, when the same thing happened to Harry and he went crazy trying to shake it off. A loud slam stopped them from the de-gnoming.

"He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"

They all walked back to the crooked house.

A thin, balding man with flaming red hair was slumped into one of the kitchen chairs, glasses askew and eyes closed. He had long dusty green robes, which were slightly travel-worn.

"What a night," he murmured. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when my back was turned…"

"Find anything, Dad?" asked Fred eagerly.

"All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't in my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning for some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness…"

"Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" asked a bewildered George.

"Just Muggle-baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it…Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking—they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them right in the face…but the things our lot have taken to enchanting you wouldn't believe—"

 _ **Oh the irony.**_

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?" bellowed Mrs. Weasley, who'd joined them in the kitchen.

"C-cars, Molly, dear?" stammered Mr. Weasley, eyes shooting wide open.

"Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs. Weasley in a calm rage. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while really he was enchanting it to make it fly."

"W-well, dear, I think you'll find that as long as he wasn't intending to fly the car, the fact that the car could fly wouldn't—"

Carina smirked. She liked Mr. Weasley.

"Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "That car brought Harry here this morning!"

"Harry?" said Mr. Weasley blankly. "Harry who?"

Mr. Weasley looked around quickly, barely noticing them. His eyes widened comically as he saw Harry, but he paled when he got to look at Carina and Mary.

"Er-is it really Harry Potter? Very pleased to meet you, Ron's told us so much about you. And you both are?" asked Mr. Weasley politely, although he was still rather pale.

"I am Carina Black," said Carina pompously.

"And I am Mary Fawley," said Mary with a bow.

"And we are, Padfoot and Leo, at your service." said both girls in unison.

"Your sons flew that car to Harry's house and back last night!" snarled Mrs. Weasley, who wasn't quite done chewing him out. "What have you got to say about that, eh?"

"Did you really?!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley excitedly. "Did it go all right? I-I mean," he looked at Mrs. Weasley as her eyes threatened him. "That-that was very wrong, boys, very wrong indeed…"

Carina noted Ron leading Harry off and nudged Mary quickly. She did not want to be there when Mrs. Weasley blew up. The twins reluctantly joined them as they snuck behind a growling Mrs. Weasley.

"That was intense," said Mary sarcastically.

"Welcome to…The Burrow!" said Carina, in a voice worthy of a game show announcer.

Harry let out a small laugh, but the rest of them looked at her with an odd expression. Probably cluelessness.

Carina went to hold Ron from taking Harry all the way up—she wanted them to go into the twin's bedroom.

"Hang on, we need all of you to get to Fred and George's room—I wanted to show you something interesting I saw in the Prankbook, and I don't want to bother Ginny." said Carina urgently.

The boys nodded with a curious assent and they all walked to the green floor of the twin's bedroom. Carina waved her wand towards the backs of all the boys. Transfiguration activated the potion when she marked the people she wanted affected. A red jet of light hit each of the boys sneakily as they continued walking unknowingly into their trap. Ginny was peeking out from her door, wide brown eyes curious about their prank. George was the first to go through the door, and when they all finally entered the room, he too was the first to undergo the transformation.

George was crammed into a bright neon pink prom dress, complete with matching shoes and bow. Fred was crammed into a cerulean blue mermaid dress, which had matching heels and a sparkly headband. Ron, the poor chap, was in a maroon corset and matching skirt, which had intricate designs of flowers. It looked like something a grandmother would wear. Harry, the innocent, was in an emerald green, extremely puffy dress. It had a sweetheart neckline that dipped comically across his flat chest.

Harry's oddly suited his eyes, but the rest of them clashed horribly with their fiery red hair.

"You guys," said Mary. "Look absolutely fantastic!"

"I agree; I think a picture is needed here," said Carina, an evil smirk creeping across her face.

Mary made a square with her wand and tapped the middle of the white square she'd drawn. A faint click was heard and a glossy photo flew gracefully to the ground. Carina picked it up quickly and shoved Mary out of the room. Shock wasn't going to hold them off forever. Carina ran up to Ginny's room, where she promptly slammed the door shut and put several charms on it.

"Ginny!" sang Carina. "Do you want to see what happened?"

"Hell yeah!" exclaimed Ginny, jumping off her bed to see the glossy rectangle.

A loud slam echoed from the floor below them as the boys quickly realized they couldn't remove the dresses. Oops. Carina might've forgotten to mention that to Ginny, but what was the harm in letting them wear the dresses for a day? No, a week, that'll teach them for excluding her and Mary.

Carina sat very smugly on Ginny's bed later that day, as Fred, George, Harry, and Ron took turns knocking furiously on the door, begging for them to reverse the spell. Each time she refused, stating that it was her birthday and they would look the part. Harry tried to undermine her, saying it was his birthday too, but she had retorted: "Yours matches your eyes, what are you worrying about?"

He had no response to that.

~CFB~

Mrs. Weasley had made a cake for Carina. Despite her protests, Mrs. Weasley had insisted she have one for her birthday. Harry had one made as well, and Mrs. Weasley had no restraint on decorations. Hers was beautiful red velvet with dark green petals that met towards the top left as an intricate rose. Harry's was a deep blue, golden Snitches etched along the sides. It was very awkward, trying to refuse Mrs. Weasley, but she was having none of it.

They would have a cake at the very least, and a dinner. Sort of what happened at the orphanage, except she wouldn't have only two people that wanted to be with her outside on a insanely hot day.

Mrs. Weasley went all out with cooking a birthday dinner—no, feast. It looked like one of the tables at Hogwarts, it was chock full of food like roasted chicken and ham. The boys still had on their dresses and Mrs. Weasley had agreed with Carina and Mary, although not for the same reason. Mrs. Weasley agreed with the punishment—not Harry's though—but she didn't know the reason why they were being punished. And it would stay like that.

They looked absolutely miserable, and Mary had decided to take pity on Harry, since he really didn't cause it. His once stylish green dress had morphed into a pale mint shirt and forest green shorts. Harry sighed with relief—he shot a grateful look towards Mary. The other Weasley boys except for Percy had glared at Harry, probably jealous that he had his dress removed.

"Thanks, Leo." said Harry with a smile.

"No problem." said Mary, stuffing her face with a large piece of chicken.

"I think, it's time to sing the birthday song to Carina and Harry." said Mrs. Weasley, standing.

Carina blushed slightly. It was always awkward when someone sang happy birthday to her—it made her feel a bit ridiculed.

"Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday, dear Carina and Harry,

Happy Birthday, to you!" sang Mrs. Weasley loudly, smiling at her pink face and Harry's as well.

The twins were still singing along, but to a tune similar to that of a wedding, smirks wide on their faces. Carina glared at them and eyed their dresses with a smug look.

They quickly stopped and looked down at their slices of cake that Mrs. Weasley had passed out to everyone. Mary had gotten some of Harry's chocolate cake, and was moaning as she took large bites of it. Everyone's face had turned curiously to her, except for Carina, Harry, and Ron, who were already used to it.

Carina curiously tried a bit of her own cake. It was delicious—no, better than that, it was like, she had taken a little bite of heaven. She joined Mary in her moans of delight, as they took generous scoops of their separate cakes.

~CFB~

Mrs. Weasley had pulled her into her room after the birthday dinner. She said something about a present. Carina had tried to refuse again, but Mrs. Weasley was very persistent. Mrs. Weasley's room was on the second floor, and was very interesting. The walls were a shade of scarlet that would make Minnie proud, and golden trimmings lined the bottom of the walls. A bed similar to the one in Ginny's room was in the middle. Scarce amounts of furniture surrounded the bed, but it didn't make the room look bad. Mrs. Weasley had begun digging into a trunk at the foot of the bed, and Carina stood a bit awkwardly to the side.

 _ **What is she looking for?**_

Mrs. Weasley finally stood, after around five minutes, and held out a small white-gold necklace. It had a brilliant diamond in the middle and small emeralds next to the diamond on the right and left. Mrs. Weasley had a small sad smile on her face as she held it out.

"It used to belong to my sister; she was a Metamorphmagus like you, but she died in the First Wizarding War," said Mrs. Weasley softly. "It doesn't work for anyone other than a Metamorphmagus though, so I thought I'd give it to you." she finished, with a watery smile.

"I-I can't take this—it's too special to you." choked out Carina.

"I think it would be better for someone who can actually have a better use for it." said Mrs. Weasley, sincerity lining her motherly voice.

"T-thank you." said Carina finally, after she gaped at Mrs. Weasley shortly.

"No problem, dear, would you like me to put it on you?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Um, sure." said Carina in a small voice.

It rested along her collarbone comfortably. It wasn't a heavy weight, and was cool against her neck.

Mrs. Weasley had let her tangle of wavy red hair fall back as she closed the necklace. Carina smiled faintly at Mrs. Weasley who was sitting on the edge of her bed, eyeing Carina with a fond smile.

Just as Carina was reaching for the handle, she couldn't help but ask.

"What was her name?"

Mrs. Weasley looked at her with a sad smile.

"Gin, or Ginevra Prewett."

~CFB~

 _ **A/N: Pugatron is back! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter (I couldn't help but squeal when I thought of the chapter title) I love alliteration, I don't know why, but I like when it just swims soothingly, such striking lines. It's my birthday today! Happy birthday to me!**_

 _ **-goes to cry cause i have no friends.-**_

 _ **Who is Gin Prewett? Why did Molly give her the necklace? When will the twins and Ron get the dresses removed? Find out next time, on, Carina F Black: What's Slithering in the Pipes?**_

 _ **Anyways, R/R and see y'all next time, m'kay.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: That Blond (Not) Gentleman~**

Life at the Weasley's was hardly a normal experience. Carina certainly wasn't used to the constant check-ups of Mrs. Weasley—who'd check in with them almost every hour. She washed all of their clothes, cleaned rooms, and managed to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Quite often, Mrs. Weasley offered them fourth helpings and put more than enough on their plates. Her new necklace was also a bit unsettling-the jewels would change colors according to her mood and most of the time they would be a nice emerald color, but occasionally would be a vivid ruby red with anger.

Carina wasn't complaining about Mrs. Weasley, but it was still unusual and it also prevented her from pulling pranks on Prefect Percy, who was always shut in his room. Fred, George, Ron, and Harry still hadn't forgotten, nor forgiven, them for their prank. Carina had smirked rather arrogantly when they mentioned this, and dared them to try something without absolute retaliation.

This led to an almost Cold War-like tension every time she, Mary, and Ginny were in the same room as them. Carina was confident they had the upper hand; the Marauder's Map was of no use to them outside of Hogwarts. The Prank-book was still in pristine condition and worked perfectly, much to the boy's dismay. Taunts, jeers, and whispered conversations were rampant throughout the Weasley household.

Mrs. Weasley had just set down dinner that evening, when the solid tension snapped like a rubber band. A flash of a hand and a jet of red light shot out from under the clean table, disappearing from sight as Mrs. Weasley's nostrils flared. Carina tentatively grabbed a lock of her-now slicked back fiery orange hair. She let out a small gasp—her hand was a deep shade of midnight blue. Surely her eyes were a catlike yellow.

A small smile played on her lips.

 _ **Bad idea, boys.**_

"Who did that?!" demanded a stern Mrs. Weasley.

Carina morphed her smile into a devilish smirk. A quick look in Fred and George's direction told her all she needed to know.

Oh yes, this was gloriously going her way.

"No one did," said Carina, turning a sickly sweet saccharine smile full force on Mrs. Weasley. "I'm a Metamorphmagus, remember?" A graceful arc shifted across her body, making it normal once more.

Mrs. Weasley's eyes softened to their chocolate brown.

"Oh yes, that's right dear." smiled Mrs. Weasley. She sat down next to Mr. Weasley, who looked curiously at Carina. He looked deep in thought, but she wasn't paying much attention to him—rather on his sons, who were giving her the most furious of glares. Her only reply to that, however, was an innocently deceiving smile. Harry and Ron narrowed their eyes at her as she tucked away her shepherd's pie happily.

It was time for the inevitable slaughter to begin.

~CFB~

Fred, George, Ron, and Harry (mainly Fred though) remained in a state of fear and paranoia most of the summer—Carina still hadn't acted on her payback, which would surely happen—and it drove them crazy. Mary was quite enjoying their leverage on them, hiding behind corners and edges and jumping out suddenly, while yelling, "Boo!"

And each time they'd storm up the worn wooden steps, slightly fearful for their well-being. Carina would smile evilly every time—she and Mary had decided to wait until Hogwarts to enact their revenge; by that time, they'd most likely have had forgotten about the War.

Carina was sitting on the large plush sofa of the sitting room when Mrs. Weasley called them all into the kitchen. She had several yellowed letters in her hands; Hogwarts letters.

"Letters from school," called Mrs. Weasley, holding up the yellowish parchment. "Nothing gets past that man, Dumbledore," she said, shaking her head at the letters.

Carina tentatively grabbed the letter addressed to her; it was the same as the previous year, although, the address had changed, seeing as she wasn't at the orphanage. It read:

" _Ms. C. Black_

 _Bedroom on the Third Floor_

 _The Burrow"_

She quickly peeled the wax stamp open and let her eyes trail down the parchment. It seemed there was a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, as they were told to receive seven new books; all written by that pompous-looking man on the pest book Mrs. Weasley owned. Another new book was required, but that seemed normal compared to all of those other Defense books.

For a moment, the feud had been forgotten, as everyone turned to look at each other in confusion.

"Did you lot get told to get all Lockhart's books, too?" asked a curious Fred.

Carina raised an eyebrow and nodded. It certainly spelled for a disastrous second year. She had read the one book the Weasley's had about pests; it might as well been written by a five year old.

"I bet the new teacher's a witch!" continued Fred wickedly.

Mrs. Weasley sent him a look that made her wince in sympathy. He quickly began eating his toast. Carina too had begun eating her toast, stacking eggs, sausage, and bacon neatly into her common breakfast sandwiches. One bite was absolutely delicious, and it definitely didn't stand a chance against the number one food eater in the world, Carina Fay Black.

"That lot won't come cheap, though." said George, daring a quick look towards his parents as Carina was pulled out of her thoughts.

"Well—we'll manage," said Mrs. Weasley, whose face said anything but reassurance. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."

Harry looked curious and turned to Ginny.

"Are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" he asked.

Ginny almost fell off her chair in shock; Carina had to bite her lip very hard to prevent herself from laughing loudly. Ginny nodded furiously, all the while a shade of red that a tomato would be jealous of. Mary had turned to look at Carina, sending a suggestive look towards Ginny, who was avoiding all eye contact.

Carina smirked and nodded. Ginny was absolutely infatuated with Harry. Just as she was about to open her mouth to make a snarky comment about this, Percy walked in, golden Prefect's badge glinting in the morning light.

"Morning, all," he said swiftly. "Lovely day."

She snickered as he sat down on Errol, the poor bird. Percy shot out of his seat immediately, moving the droopy owl out of his seat. Ron snatched Errol from Percy's hands, saying: "Finally, he's got Moony's answer. I wrote to her when we were going to rescue you from the Dursleys."

Carina's eye twitched.

 _ **They sent a letter to Hermione and just forgot to mention it?!**_

Ron began reading it out loud.

" _Dear Sp—Ron, and Harry (Mary and Carina if you're there too)_

 _I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry in trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry is all right, would you pleas—"_

Carina's attention span was not long—it was a miracle she could even continue a conversation with someone at the speed she got distracted. She really couldn't help it—just more interesting things got in the way of paying attention.

The distraction was Fred pouring a thick dark substance into Ginny's porridge; even Carina had to cringe—that was not a pleasant thing to look at.

"Ew, Ginny, don't eat that porridge, all right?" said Carina suddenly, making a face towards the dark substance now sitting at the bottom of the bowl.

Ginny, who had been staring at Harry with a dreamy expression as he talked, jumped back so hard, the bowl flew right off the table, landing upside down, letting the gunky black goo trail on the floor. Carina smiled roguishly at her expression.

The commotion had caused a bit of a scene, in which everyone looked right at her, and Ginny turned an even darker shade of red, like the color of a rose. She pulled the deepest cringe Carina had ever seen and walked right up to her room; face indistinguishable between her flaming hair and burning cheeks. Mary, who'd also seen the incident happen with a look of amusement, trailed after her.

An awkward silence built as Mrs. Weasley cleaned the mess with her wand.

"That fits in nicely, we can go get all of your things too," said Mrs. Weasley, picking up the remains of the breakfast.

"Sorry, but what fits in nicely?" asked Carina, who hadn't heard their conversation.

"We're going to meet up with Moony at Diagon Alley." Harry said, an amused smile on his lips.

"Really?" she asked, "When're we going?"

"Wednesday." replied Mrs. Weasley, a bit muffled as she waved her wand around the dirty dishes.

Carina turned to Harry, who barely realized that she and him were enemies at the moment. His eyes widened and he quickly left up the stairs with Ron, who went to talk with Fred and George.

 _ **Time to prepare for Hogwarts!**_

~CFB~

The Wednesday morning of their date to go to Diagon Alley was a drowsy one. Carina nearly bit Mrs. Weasley's hand as she shook her awake—she valued her sleep very much.

"Ginny….move your elbowssss…" moaned Mary, who was yawning as Mrs. Weasley left the room.

Ginny let out a small grunt of acknowledgement as she shifted on the bed. She had shifted so hard, Carina, who was on the other side of the large bed, fell right off as the sheets were pulled from under her.

"I will murder you all with a rusty spoon." she snarled, slightly muffled as she got to her feet slowly.

"Later…." drawled Ginny, sprawled across the bed.

Carina shook her mass of tangled red hair. That was going to be a pain to comb back to normal—even with her powers. She really shouldn't sleep with her hair in a bun.

Although, there was an upside. Mrs. Weasley had made them all bacon sandwiches and Carina quickly devoured several after getting dressed. Mary had given Mrs. Weasley the money that Ms. Campbell had given them, so she could purchase their books for them. The Weasleys were already in the kitchen, with alertness ranging from still asleep (Ron) and to awake since the crack of dawn (Mrs. Weasley). Bombur entered the kitchen, his massive sides bouncing as he went to sit in front of her.

His wide, innocent, brown eyes peered up at her, his wrinkles making him look even sadder. Carina was tough—at least she liked to think so—but she was very, very, weak when it came to cuteness. And Bombur the pug was the precise definition of cuteness.

"Don't look at me like that!" scolded Carina, voice sounding opposite of that statement. Everyone gave a perturbed look towards her.

Bombur sat and somehow his chocolate-colored eyes got even wider, maximizing his cuteness by over 9000. Carina let out an inhumane squeal.

"Why are you so cute?!"

She put a sandwich down on the floor in front of him and his curly black tail wagged happily as he picked it up and took it to the living room. Carina smiled at him with glazed over eyes and a sickly sweet smile—the cuteness might've disabled her—had Mary not smacked her shoulder.

Harry stumbled in and Mrs. Weasley motioned them towards the fireplace.

"Harry, you first, dear," she said sweetly, holding out the clay pot full of the emerald green powder towards him.

He looked at all of them like they were insane. "W-what am I supposed to do?" he stammered out.

"Prongs might as well be a Muggle, Specks," said Mary, sighing as she turned to look at Ron. "Of course he doesn't know about Floo powder."

"I keep forgetti—"

"Never?" interrupted Mr. Weasley, sounding astounded. "How did you get to Diagon Alley last time, then?"

"We went through the Underground," Harry said awkwardly.

Mr. Weasley's eyes lit up with the prospect of talking about Muggle inventions.

"Really! Were there escapators? Fellytones? Tellyshuns?!" he asked excitedly.

"Erm—"

Mrs. Weasley, who'd been looking with disproval at Mr. Weasley, saved Harry from even more silence.

"Not now, Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "Well, I don't know how to explain this—"

"Don't worry Mum, we'll show him." said Fred, reaching out for the shimmering powder and throwing it into the fireplace. The brightly lit fire suddenly blazed a brilliant jade green, illuminating the cramped room with odd shadows. Fred walked right up into the fire and boomed quite loudly: "Diagon Alley!"

He vanished quickly, and right after, George followed.

"Ready, Prongs?" asked Carina, smile bright as she mocked him.

Harry looked at her with a glare that could've killed someone as he walked tentatively to the fire.

"Now, don't forget to tuck in your knees—"

"Don't get out too early—"

Mrs. Weasley and Ron's advice was cut short as Harry stammered with a cough, "D-Di-Diagon Alley!"

With another flare of neon green, Harry was gone.

"My turn!" Carina screeched, and she jumped into the tickling flames.

She gasped and shut her eyes as another sight came rushing back at the speed of light—the room with the potions—the blackness swirling with a bright emerald and loud feminine screams—pain. Excruciating pain.

 _ **What is this?! My..my chest aches….fire…it burns…this didn't happen in Mrs. Campbell's fireplace though…**_

Carina opened her eyes after what seemed like forever, gasping for breath; the Weasleys and Mary were looking at her oddly.

"You okay, Padfoot?" asked Mary, peridot eyes flashing with concern.

"Yeah, yeah," Carina reassured her, taking a final gasp, and said quickly, "Diagon Alley!"

The Burrow disappeared as flashing fireplaces whirled by the entrance; until an abrupt stop made her fall out of a red brick grate.

"Ugh…" groaned Carina, dusting herself off as she rose from the dirty cobblestone road.

She took a quick assessment of her surroundings—rows of fireplaces lined the small building, green poofs of flame erupting as wizards and witches alike walked in and out of them. The familiar ginger hair of Fred, George, and Ginny grabbed her attention at once, which meant Mary had yet to come.

"Where's Prongs?" she asked, walking up to the Weasleys.

"I don't know," said Ron, glancing around.

Carina frowned. Harry did sound like he pronounced it wrong when he stammered through "Diagon Alley," but maybe he'd just gotten lost somewhere in the Floo Fireplaces.

Mr. Weasley arrived next, and he too looked around curiously.

"Where's Harry?" he asked.

Mary Floo-ed quickly afterwards.

"Did you fall over?" Mary teased with a smirk as she sauntered towards her.

"Yes." grumbled Carina, scowling at her smug smile.

Mrs. Weasley was the last to Floo to Diagon Alley, and she looked very worried as she counted each of them. Her face dipped almost comically when she finished.

"Oh my," she gasped. "Where's Harry?!"

Mrs. Weasley checked each grate with a swiftness Carina had never seen before. In a worry-induced speed, she flew around, cutting through large crowds and checking behind corners. The rest of the Weasleys and Mary began looking around frantically—anything that would even remotely be considered close to Harry's jet black hair. Mrs. Weasley was about to come back and panic, when a very large man caught Carina's curiosity instantly.

"Hagrid!" exclaimed Carina, turning her head to look at him closer.

He waved a large hand cheerily, and made his way towards them. A smaller boy began to get noticed behind him, trailing awkwardly by to him. He was covered in black ash and soot—this had to be Harry, that idiot.

"Prongs!" she continued, catching Mrs. Weasley's attention at once.

"Padfo—" Harry began, before Mrs. Weasley caught him quickly.

"Harry! Where did you go? We couldn't find you, I was so worried, oh my—" Mrs. Weasley was interrupted by Hagrid, who deemed it time to speak up after a very fast ramble.

"Caugh' 'im down by Knockturn Alley," Hagrid said darkly, motioning his hands behind them.

"Really! Lucky, Mum's never let us go in!" said Fred and George loudly.

"Um…Knockturn Alley?" asked Mary, who sounded as confused as Carina did.

"Knockturn Alley!" shrieked Mrs. Weasley.

"It's a shady place of Diagon Alley," said Ron, lowering his voice as Mrs. Weasley came closer.

She shoved past them, dragging Ginny along as she was hooked onto her arm. A large brush flew out of her bag and right into her arms as she began sweeping off the soot from Harry's very dusty frame. Mr. Weasley took his broken glasses, and fixed them with a tap of his wand.

"Guess who I saw in Borgin and Burkes?" said Harry, after Mrs. Weasley had begun leading them towards the snowy-white building that was Gringotts.

"Who?" asked Ron.

"Malfoy and his father."

"Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" Mr. Weasley cut in, sounding very interested.

"No, he was selling." said Harry, turning to Mr. Weasley.

"Ah, so he's worried," said Mr. Weasley, sounding very satisfied. "Oh…I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something…."

 _ **Sounds like luscious…**_

"You be careful, Arthur," scolded Mrs. Weasley. "That family's nothing but trouble."

The sight of Hermione, and her parents exchanging Muggle money, cut off Mr. Weasley's remark. He rushed over to the counter, smiling brightly at them.

"But you're Muggles!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed.

Carina went to give a welcome to Hermione, but a very cold hand tapped her shoulder. She turned around quickly and let out a small gasp. It was Castiel, the odd Slytherin boy who'd caught her hiding around Hogwarts.

"Cas?" she asked curiously.

His blue eyes looked slightly sea green as he towered over her.

 _ **Did he get even taller?! Maybe I'm just shrinking…**_

"You dropped this." Cas said quietly, reaching out his hand.

In his hand was the yellowish parchment of the Prankbook. Carina's eyes widened.

"Oh! Thanks!" She stammered, reaching out for the parchment.

Cas nodded his head and awkwardly walked out of the ornate doors of Gringotts without a single word.

"Padfoot, we're getting on the cart!" called Mary, waving her hands out wildly.

"Going!" Carina shouted back, running towards the dull metal cart.

"Do you think we'll fit?" asked Harry, looking a bit dubious about it.

"Don't worry," smiled Mr. Weasley.

Carina crammed herself in between Hermione and Mary. At least it wouldn't be as awkward as Mary was to Fred, who was looking anywhere but down, as everyone crowded the cart.

Griphook, once again gave no warning to the unsettling lurch of the cart. It went fast, the lights of the torches glowing in the misty tunnel. It was a smaller distance than Mrs. Campbell's vault to the Weasley's—when they reached it, Mary almost fell out of the cart, Fred grabbing her arm to steady her.

"Thanks, Fred," moaned Mary, who was holding her head in pain.

Carina stayed in the cart, hoping to be in front when it went to Harry's vault. The Weasley's vault made Carina feel a bit uncomfortable—inside was a small pile of silver Sickles and only one gold Galleon. She shifted when they all crammed back inside the cart. Harry also looked anxious as the cart hurtled down towards his vault. Carina was slightly curious as to what Harry had in his vault—not that she would judge—but she was curious. It was like an itch, an itch that wouldn't go away until she satisfied her need to know.

The cart screeched to a stop at a rather deep vault. Harry opened it hastily and tried to block the inside, but Carina could see the glint of the gold shining out past him and reflecting on his glasses. Harry had no reason to try and hide it—it was blatantly obvious that he had lots of gold. She didn't think the Weasleys would mind at all, as they waited calmly for Harry to shove large amounts of gold into his bag.

As soon as they all got back from the vaults, everyone left. Percy went to get a new quill, the twins found Lee Jordan, Mrs. Weasley went to a robe store, and Mr. Weasley was insisting on taking Hermione's parents for a drink.

"We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to get the schoolbooks," said Mrs. Weasley, departing with a rather awkward looking Ginny at her side.

They all walked around aimlessly, curiously looking at the many sights that Diagon Alley had to offer. One shop in particular caught Mary's attention, however.

"No way! Ice cream!" she screeched, jumping up and down as Carina was pulled with her iron like grip.

"Way to yell in my ears," muttered Carina, not at all happy with her loudness.

The inside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour was bright and colorful, but the apple of the shop was the flavors. Large tubs of fresh cold ice cream hidden behind clear glass panes were just waiting to be devoured. Harry, Hermione, and Ron had all wanted strawberry and peanut butter, which they took happily. Carina got an interesting looking one, salted caramel blondie, and Mary got chocolate-layered chocolate ice cream. It was absolutely delicious, and Carina wasted no time at all in attempting to finish it—it seemed it would never melt.

Ron had stopped them all outside of Quality Quidditch Supplies to look at the bright orange set of the Chudley Cannon robes shining in the sunlight. Hermione saved them there, as she dragged them to buy parchment and ink next door. Carina and Mary had to stop at Gambol and Japes Wizarding Shop, which had been around since Marauder times, as some things they required were listed in there. She had distracted the boys by setting off one of their Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, which led to the shop owners throwing them all out—except for Mary, who would buy the necessary materials for their Hogwarts revenge.

Percy, who had been in a junk shop next door, came out and raged at the twins for making him lose his page in his book, Prefects Who Gained Power. Carina snickered as they left them for dead by Percy.

It seemed an hour had blown away fast as they made their way to the oddly crowded store of Flourish and Blotts. Middle-aged witches and some wizards crowded the front of the shop as they all clambered around to try and get in. Carina noted large banner stretched across the windows: "GILDEROY LOCKHART will be signing copies of his autobiography MAGICAL ME today 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m."

"Great." Carina grumbled. Her reaction was almost opposite of Hermione's, who squealed: "We can actually meet him! I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"

"Moony, please don't tell me you actually like Lockhart?" asked Mary.

Hermione didn't reply, but blushed a faint pink color. A harassed-looking wizard waited by the door, attempting to calm the stampede. They had somehow managed to squeeze inside. A long line wound around the entire store, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. Hermione had grabbed them all a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 and dragged them off towards Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who were nearly at the front of the line.

"Oh, there you are, good," Mrs. Weasley said out of breath. "We'll be able to see him in a minute…"

Carina grimaced.

"Prongs, you sure you want to be shown off by Lockhart?" asked Mary calmly, already moving to hide him from sight.

"It's not like he won't see me eventually," Harry said dejectedly.

It was time to put her skills to use.

"If you have to suffer, I might as well enjoy it," she smirked, becoming the duplicate of Harry once more. It was a bit weird, from her short feminine frame morphing into Harry's taller thin frame, but it was worth it from his reaction.

His eyes widened.

"You wouldn't," gasped Harry.

"Try me," replied Carina sarcastically. "Get him, Leo."

Mary sighed but grabbed Harry and pulled him behind Mr. Weasley, who wisely said nothing. She transfigured a small bit of wire into some glasses like the ones Harry wore, and put them on her face awkwardly. Carina pulled her necklace from around her neck and stuffed it from her pocket as a loud shout from the egotistical blond man made her jump.

"It can't be Harry Potter?" he all but shouted.

The once overbearing crowd parted quickly, prompting Lockhart to lock onto her arm quickly. Whispers flew from every direction, ranging from excited and exasperated, as he pulled her to the front where a short, red-faced, irritated man took pictures quickly. Applause from the crowd made Lockhart smile even more as he went to shake her hand.

"Nice big smile, Harry," said Lockhart through his own bright gleaming smile. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

Carina smiled a smile as large as Lockhart's; all the while the photographer took dozens of pictures with blinding flashes and dark plumes of smoke. He then threw an arm behind her shoulders.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began loudly. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography-which I shall be happy to present to him now, free of charge-" The crowd gave way to loud cheers and applause. "He had no idea," Lockhart shook her slightly, making the wire glasses fall down her nose. "that he would be shortly getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"No way!" Carina couldn't hold her shock and laughter back.

Lockhart boomed a laugh and shoved lots of books into her arms. The crowd cheered and clapped as Lockhart bowed and smiled at them. Carina caught sight of Ginny, standing in the corner with her new cauldron. Time for her escape.

"Gin, thank god, here, you take these," she mumbled, throwing them all in her new cauldron. "Oh, it's me, Carina." She momentarily made her eyes gray and Carina smiled slyly at Ginny's red face.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a cold voice that was sadly familiar to Carina.

She pulled herself to Harry's full height and was face to face with Malfoy, who was sneering like always.

"Famous Harry Potter," said Malfoy. "Can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page."

"Why, are you jealous?" Carina smirked, eyebrows high in faux-surprise. Malfoy spluttered, and changed tacks quickly.

"Potter, you've got yourself a girlfriend!" he drawled, attempting to regain his pretense of calm indifference.

Ginny flushed and Carina went to help her there.

"Must be hard to tell the difference between a friend and a girlfriend for you, Malfoy, seeing as you don't have either," said Carina, basking in Ginny's relieved laughter from behind her.

Malfoy went pink in anger, and Ron came into view.

"Oh, it's you," said Ron, a look of disgust on his face. "Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?"

"Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley," retorted Malfoy, turning to face Ron. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."

Ron went red, and Carina was having difficulty from seeing anything as her own eyesight went red. Luckily, Mary shoved a disheveled Harry into view and Carina was allowed to go back to her normal angry self. Pitch black curly-haired, and red-eyed, Carina was about to lunge for him—had not Mr. Weasley interrupted both her and Ron.

"Ron! What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."

Carina allowed herself to be steered by Mary, who looked like she was having difficulty restraining herself as well.

"Well, well, well—Arthur Weasley," sneered Malfoy senior, who looked exactly like an older Draco Malfoy blocking the path to the door.

 _ **This must be Luscious.**_

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.

"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," Luscious drawled. "All those raids…I hope they're paying you overtime?"

He reached into Ginny's cauldron and from the very bottom grabbed a copy of a very old, very battered, A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.

 _ **Overstepping your boundaries, much?**_

"Obviously not," sneered Mr. Malfoy. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"

Mr. Weasley flushed darker than Ron and Ginny.

"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," he replied.

"Luscious is rude." Carina muttered angrily, hoping to draw some tension out. Mr. Weasley laughed coldly, and so did her friends.

Mr. Malfoy looked at her with a cool glare.

"And who might you be, another Weasley spawn?" spat Luscious bitterly.

"Actually, it's Carina, Carina Black," retorted Carina, nostrils flaring. "Miss Black will do, however, seeing as my name shouldn't be tarnished by the likes of you."

Luscious gave her a stricken look, followed by a look of indifference as he faced Mr. Weasley.

"The company you keep, Weasley…I thought your family could sink no lower…" he said, lip curling as he gazed at Hermione's parents.

Ginny's cauldron went flying with a loud clank of metal. Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Luscious, knocking him backwards into a bookshelf. Spellbooks fell in dozens above them, as the brawl continued. Dust flew from the shelves as they fell, making it a hazy view as the dark brown plumes curled to rest on the already dirty floor.

"Get him, Dad!" yelled Fred or George amidst the chaos, and Mrs. Weasley shrieked, "No, Arthur, no!"

The crowd backed away from them as more shelves got knocked over. Swirling brown dust was visible through the rays of light from outdoors. The assistant tried to break it up, with pitiful attempts of calming. "Gentlemen, please, please!" But a booming voice finally was successful. It was Hagrid.

"Break it up, there, gents, break it up-" he said, moving to pull them apart as he waded through the thick crowd of people and books. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Luscious had a bruised eye after being hit with an encyclopedia. He shot a furious glare at Mr. Weasley, and turned his focus onto Ginny, who was standing next to him.

"Take your book, girl—it's the best your father can give you," snarled Luscious, shoving Ginny her tattered Transfiguration book that he miraculously kept hold of. He pulled a flushed Malfoy out of the shop and left quickly, dust flying as he stormed out.

"How rude." commented Carina, as if she was the poster-child for manners.

"That whole family's rotten ter the core," muttered Hagrid approvingly. "Let's get outta here."

They walked outside, leaving the now-mess of a bookshop behind as they walked into the warm afternoon sunlight.

~CFB~

 _ **I'M SORRY—I'VE BEEN COMPLETELY SWAMPED WITH SCHOOLWORK! It shouldn't have taken a month to update—sorry about that, again—I've been writing in my spare time, and I've come up with new ideas for future chapters and books that I can't wait to write up. Also! I would like to make each title a song title (these have been P!ATD titles that are slightly modified, but who knows what I'll change in them) Updates will happen—they might be a bit slower than usual, though, so see y'all next time, m'kay. –Pugatron.**_

 _ **R/R is appreciated, but you don't have to if you don't want to. ;)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: Flying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have (Probably)**_

Time seemed to whirl around as the fleeting days at the Burrow dwindled into nothing, leaving disaster in its wake. Mrs. Weasley flew around, up and down the stairs, screeching about gathering their things and not forgetting anything. Books tumbled all over Ginny's room, accompanied by Maya's incessant squawking as Mary tried to coax her into the white cage. Ginny was pale and green at the same time, looking like a zombie as she double-checked her trunk again and again as she paced all over the room.

Carina was about to snap at all the chaos that was happening. She had been sitting on Ginny's bed, surrounded by the slams and shouts that filled the household. Bombur had joined her long ago, resting his chubby head against her thigh, probably also tired of all the noise. Her hair had turned black when it had begun—and it didn't show any sign of going back to rose red. Sure, she liked to _cause_ disorder, but not be at the middle of it and _not_ be the instigator.

Long ago, she had thrown her packed trunk down the cluttered stairs, waiting for the time they would finally leave. It was inevitable that one of them would have to carry it…just not her. Mr. Weasley probably had taken it to their small blue car. She wondered how it would fit—especially with seven other trunks, two owls, one cat, one fat dog, and ten very frustrated magic users. Someone was bound to get hurt, one way, or another.

That some one, turned out to be Mr. Weasley, who had almost broken his neck tripping over one of the chickens that littered the yard.

"We're leaving!" roared Mrs. Weasley from downstairs. "NOW!"

Carina finally jumped out of her somewhat dreamy contemplation as Ginny turned an even further shade of green that a frog would be proud of, and dragged her trunk out of the room. Mary had finally managed to get her stubborn owl into its cage, albeit with many nicks on her fingers. The cramped hall resulted in Carina stumbling over her black dog, which created a domino effect as she slammed into George's back, all tumbling down the stairs. Elbows, knees, and hands flew everywhere, smacking Carina along her sides and legs as they all landed in a heap at the bottom.

"Never again…" groaned Mary, rising with a very distressed and angry owl. The cause of the ruckus however, somehow managed to get down the stairs unscathed, bouncing towards the door merrily.

With short fuses and bruised sides, the young group stomped across the yard towards their small blue car. At first, Carina didn't see anything different besides the fact that the wheel was on the right—unlike those in the States—but then, when the twins put their trunks in the back compartment, she caught sight of the cave— and very long seat in the front and back. It looked like a park table bench, stretched even further as each Weasley, Potter, Fawley, and Black filled the magically expanded seat. Mr. Weasley definitely had some explaining to do to Mrs. Weasley—provided she knew about the fact that normal Muggle cars didn't have such gargantuan spaces to sit and store.

The drive to King's Cross was cut short several times. First, George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Second, Fred forgot his broomstick. Thirdly and finally, Ginny had wailed loudly that she'd forgotten her diary—which she and Mary had most definitely failed to notice. Carina was past her breaking point—patience was a virtue that she had difficulty keeping. Mary's annoying owl wouldn't stop screeching; Harry's owl had deliberately decided to join her after a while, Bombur wouldn't stop squirming, and her wand was jabbing her very hard on her side.

Five minutes before the train left, the distressed group dashed quickly towards Platform 9 and ¾, Mr. Weasley separating to get them all trolleys. Carina was gasping as they all reached the pillar.

"Percy first," said an anxious Mrs. Weasley, who kept throwing worried glances towards the clock.

Mr. Weasley followed Percy and the twins went right after.

"I'll take Ginny and you lot come right after us," Mrs. Weasley said quickly, grabbing Ginny's hand and leaping towards the portal.

"Go, Prongs, Specks," said Mary, slightly exasperated as she glanced up pointedly.

Harry and Ron walked inconspicuously towards the barrier, breaking into a run as they approached the pillar. A loud crash signaled their failure in crossing the barrier. Ron and Harry landed a few feet away from the spectacle, Hedwig hooting loudly as her cage rolled around; Ron's trunk was littered haphazardly by the trolleys.

 _ **Why couldn't they go through?! The train's about to leave!**_

"What in blazes d'you think you're doing?" shouted a rather irritated guard. People began staring in slight curiosity and confusion.

"What does it look like we're doing?" snapped Carina, still fuming. "Our trolleys crashed, genius."

The guard threw her a scornful glare and walked off. Mary grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the very disgruntled boys.

"Why can't you get through?!" hissed Mary, anxiously looking at the clock.

"We're going to miss the train," Ron whispered back. "I don't understand why the gateway's sealed itself—"

"Sealed itself?!" exclaimed Carina, gathering the attention of still curious bystanders. She glared at all of them with stormy gray eyes. "Keep walkin'!" Carina hollered, causing them to begrudgingly resume their activities. She could still hear some of them muttering, "Crazy kids."

The clock seemed to laugh at them as it ticked down from ten seconds. Harry tried pushing his cart against the wall of the barrier, very desperate to get through.

"We're not getting through, Prongs," sighed Mary, who looked very down as she looked thoughtfully at the clock.

"Great." Carina muttered. The day had started off hectically for no reason, because they missed the train. How would they get to Hogwarts now? She sighed. At least Bombur hadn't caught much attention.

"It's gone," said a stunned Ron. "The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back through to us? Have you got any Muggle money?"

"Don't be so rash—," began Mary, but was cut off by Ron.

"Let's go back to the car," he said dejectedly.

They began pushing through the masses, Harry carrying her trunk, and Ron Mary's, as their owls gained lots of attention from the Muggles. Ron unlocked the trunk of the sky blue car with a few taps of his wand. Carina let Ron shove their luggage into the cavernous trunk, and she walked towards the front seat with Bombur bounding alongside her. Ron sat in the driver's seat, and Harry and Mary sat in the back.

"What're you doing?" asked Carina, watching warily as Ron tapped the keyhole with his wand.

"Don't tell me we're driving this to Hogwarts," scoffed Mary in disbelief.

"Check that no one's watching," said Ron simply, pushing several of the buttons along the dash.

Harry glanced up and down the street. It was empty.

"Okay," he said.

Ron pushed a silver button and the car gave a small shudder as they vanished. Quite literally vanished, as Carina glanced up and down her body in surprise. Bombur let out a loud snort and burrowed next to her.

"What are you doing?!" hissed Carina once more, a bit more forcefully.

"Let's go," said Ron, voice disfigured as Carina tried to find him to her right.

An unsteady wobble made Carina hug an invisible Bombur. The ground slowly began getting further and further away as the car rose. She couldn't find her breath. Certainly it had remained on the ground, where she had once been. Sick was forming in her throat as buildings began falling behind them as the car climbed unsteadily higher and higher into the air, similar to her heart rate, which was skyrocketing.

"I-I really don't like heights, Ronald," stammered Carina, shutting her eyes as the smoky city of London glittered below them.

A faint popping noise made her tentatively open her anxiety-filled yellow eyes. She let out a small sigh of relief. The car had reappeared, and Ron began jabbing the silver button again. Carina looked down worriedly. They were in a flying car—that had faulty buttons—what if the Flying Charms stopped working like the Invincibility Booster?! She strapped on the seatbelt in a flash, not wanting to not be able to find it when they were invisible. Her hair had turned a new shade: pure white, which was most likely a variation of the bleach blonde shade of terror and fear.

"Uh-oh, it's faulty—" he said, hitting it harder and harder as pops signaled their disappearance and reappearance. "Hold on!" he yelled, Carina grabbing on for dear life as he slammed his foot on the accelerator; rising into the low gray clouds quickly. She could feel faint prickling of tears in her molten-yellow panicked eyes, as their surroundings became a dark murky gray.

"Now what?" said Mary, who had no qualms at being so high up.

"We need to see the train to know what direction to go in," said Ron.

"Dip back down again, quickly," said Harry.

A low rumble from the car sounded as they dropped beneath their cover of clouds. Carina would not look down. She was sick enough as it was—her stomach had been in tangled knots because of their altitude. Carina glanced at the others, who twisted around as they tried to catch sight of the Hogwarts Express. They were completely _insane!_

"I found it!" yelled Harry, startling her. "Right ahead—there!" he pointed.

Carina could see it from the windshield; a scarlet snake glinting around the dull gray of London.

"Due North," said Ron, glancing at the compass on the dashboard. "We'll just have to check on it every half hour or so—hang on—"

He made the car rise high above the smoke-colored clouds, all but disappearing as fluffy white ones replaced them. The sun shone high above the brilliantly white clouds, stretching out across the endless pale blue sea of a sky.

"All we've got to worry about now are airplanes," said Ron jokingly.

Harry, Mary, and Ron burst out into laughter. How could they be laughing in such a dangerous place?!

"Ha, ha, ha," said Carina in a derisive tone. "Having the time of my life here, guys, you know, besides the fact that we could die!" she finished with a high-pitched tone.

"Don't be such a party pooper," said Ron, smiling as they skimmed across the snowy clouds.

He pulled out a bag of toffees from the glove compartment. "Want one?"

Carina couldn't even think about food—the closest thing remotely near the thought of food to her was preventing it from coming up with an unpleasant scent.

"No," she said, forcing a tight smile.

Harry and Mary took some, unraveling the golden wrappers happily.

Carina couldn't help but think that this was going to be a long "drive."

 **~CFB~**

She had fallen into a rather distressing slumber. Dreams of her plummeting to her death were not reassuring or calming at such a high altitude. She had awoken—not happily, for that matter—to a sweltering car.

"Why's it so hot?" Carina mumbled sleepily, moving her stiff neck off the seat.

"Maybe because the sun's closer to us, but I don't know," said Mary sarcastically. She tended to get snappy when she was in a bad mood. Harry was looking a bit worse for wear, but not as much as Ron, whose flaming hair was sticking flat on his face.

They had all removed their sweaters and Bombur was panting on the seat next to her. Carina still refused to move or look around out of a constricting fear of plummeting to the earth unexpectedly.

"Can't be much further, can it?" asked Ron, voice hoarse.

The sun had descended from its throne, painting the clouds a lovely shade of pink with smudges of violet smattered here and there. She couldn't appreciate the beauty—staying alive seemed like a much better option than looking at clouds.

They descended to check on the scarlet trail that pumped across the landscape, winding around a snow-capped mountain drearily. It was much darker under the cover of clouds. As they returned to their previous position, Carina let out a panicked whimper. The engine had begun to whine, causing her to grip tightly onto her seat.

"It's probably just tired," said Ron. "It's never been this far before…"

His "reassurances" did not help settle Carina, who was trembling as the whine grew louder and louder as the sky descended into darkness. Stars begun to blemish the violet-blue sky and the temperature began to drop slowly. She pulled her sweater on quickly, resuming her previous position of grasping tightly. Her dog had cuddled into the small space under her elbow, pushing his flat nose into her arm.

Not a while later, they had finally caught sight of the beloved castle.

"There!" shouted Harry, making Carina jump violently. "Straight ahead!"

High on the cliff over the Black Lake, Hogwarts glittered like a beacon, illuminating its many turrets and towers tantalizingly. The car had begun shuddering violently, beginning to lose speed. Carina grabbed her once more seat as they caught a glimpse of steam curling out of the blue hood. Her knuckles popped and turned white as Ron pressed the accelerator for the final time; the engine had died—completely—with a splutter and a clunk.

Carina began hyperventilating as Ron uttered his last words. "Uh-oh," he said into the thick silence. The nose of the car dipped, aiming towards the very solid looking castle wall. She screamed loudly, eyes welling with unshed tears, and grabbing her dog tightly as the car continued its crash course towards the ground. Ron suddenly turned the wheel, making them lean precariously towards the greenhouses, all the while losing altitude. Carina's banshee-like shriek had not paused for a second. In that moment, she believed that they most certainly were going to die. Ron had tried to slow their descent, pulling out his wand and yelling stop at the dashboard. The ground appeared to start swallowing them as they reached closer and closer to the earth.

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!" bellowed Harry, jumping from the back towards the steering wheel, but it was too late, and a sound louder than Carina's wail pierced the air. She curled into a ball with her pug and shut her eyes as metal collided onto solid wood, and the wrecked carcass of the blue car dropped to the ground with a heavy tumble.

The crash had stopped her incessant scream, but it did not stop her heart from pounding out of her chest. Breathing heavily, she cracked open an eyelid. She was still in her seat, a terrified Bombur held snugly in her grasp. Her seatbelt had stopped them from smashing into the windshield—but Harry had a small lump on his head as he groaned in pain. Mary had been thrown over the front seat, their owls screeching and hissing loudly as they fluttered unhappily in their ruined cages. Carina hesitantly unclicked her seatbelt, moving to check on Mary, who was groaning as she peeled herself off the seat. She was conscious, just a bit bruised from the crash.

"Are you okay?" asked Harry urgently, looking at Ron's pale face.

"My wand," said Ron in a spooked whisper. "Look at my wand—"

He held it up in a trembling hand. It had snapped in half, a single strand of glittery white unicorn hair and several splinters holding it together. Carina had not bothered to move—she was still surprised that they had lived—but that was short lived as another force smashed into her side of the car with a loud thud, sending her and Bombur flying into Ron. A similar blow hit the roof, making her heart speed to its previous rate.

"What's happeni—?" began Mary, but Ron's gasp grabbed all their attention as a thick tree branch smashed through the remains of the windshield.

The "tree" they had crashed into was attacking every part of the car it could reach, twigs stabbing and punching, and branches like battering rams pounding everywhere.

"We're going to die by a tree now?!" shrieked Carina, heart in her throat.

"We're done for!" moaned Ron, as the ceiling sagged, but a familiar vibrating began suddenly.

"The engine!" screeched Mary.

"Reverse!" Harry yelled, and the car shot backward, the tree still trying to attack its disrupter. Creaking noises sounded as the roots tried to reach them, cracking like whips as they were out of reach.

"That," panted Ron, "was close. Well done, car—"

The car had had enough. With a small groan, the car's doors flew open, and Carina could feel the seat shoving her out of the car forcefully. Bombur cradled in her arms, she landed on her back, the cool, damp grass of Hogwarts flattening under her. Her heart still racing painfully, she heard several loud thuds and the screeches of owls, before she closed her tearless eyes.

 **~CFB~**

"Shock…Goodness…Black…Willow…Car?!" said an indignant voice, muddled with silence as Carina awoke slowly. A blinding light greeted her darkness-accustomed eyes, making her blink quickly as the figure of Madam Pomfrey stood next to her.

"Madam Pomfrey?" asked Carina, moving to sit up.

"Oh good, you're up, now dear, don't stress yourself," she said, moving to feel her forehead.

"I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey," said Carina, a bit embarrassed that she had fainted of shock out in the lawns.

"Are you hungry?" asked Madam Pomfrey, giving her a chicken sandwich.

"Thanks," Carina smiled, taking a large bite of her sandwich. Now that they weren't going to die, food seemed like the best choice for her unsettled stomach right then and there.

"You must wait here; the feast has ended," Madam Pomfrey said, walking towards her small office.

Carina rose quickly. Like hell she'd wait for whatever Pomfrey had planned. What had happened to Harry, Ron, and Mary? Did they get into trouble?

Carina was racing towards the large staircase when a voice rang out from behind: "Black!" She turned around, startled that someone had talked to her. Not that she was unpopular—more that she was rather abrasive. A familiar person strode up. It was Cas, the awkward cinnamon roll.

"I told you to call me Padfoot," she said, raising a brow.

Cas smiled apologetically.

"Is it true?" he said suddenly, an austere face taking over his smile.

"Is what true?" Carina questioned.

"Did you really fly a Muggle auto-mover here?" said Cas, surprise and curiosity visible in his sea-blue eyes as he leaned down to question her.

"Um, I wouldn't say 'fly', rather crashed an automobile here," said Carina correcting him, unsure how he found out.

"Really?" Cas said, narrowing his eyes, which had turned icy in suspicion.

"Yes…why?" asked Carina, hair getting a bit darker.

"Because they said you, Weasley, Potter, and Fawley had been expelled," said Cas matter-of-factly.

"Expelled?!" shrieked Carina, hair turning white as she left Castiel in her dust, still wondering why she had been so surprised.

Carina ran up to the Seventh Floor, shoving feast latecomers out of her path as she stormed towards the Fat Lady's portrait.

Harry, Ron, and Mary were bickering with Hermione, who most likely, like Cas, had found out about their perilous flight.

"Well, we haven't been expelled," said Harry, trying to reassure a worried Hermione.

Carina let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. They still hadn't noticed her, however, as they looked amused at Hermione's expression.

"You're not telling me you did fly here?" Hermione said sternly.

"No need for a lecture, Moony," joined in Carina with a smile. "We didn't die, now did we?"

"Padfoot! You're okay!" they chorused, grinning at her.

"What's the new password?" said Carina, looking pointedly at Hermione.

"It's 'wattlebird,'" said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point—"

A thunder of applause drowned out Hermione's reprimanding, as the Fat Lady opened with her usual swing. It looked as if most of Gryffindor House was waiting their arrival; they crowded each crevice of the circular common room of Gryffindor Tower. Some stood on the polished tables, while others sat on every available surface possible. Carina raised an eyebrow as arms attempted to pull her in with Harry, Ron, and Mary.

Most retreated as if burned, and she smiled happily. It was good to be back. Lee Jordan's praises did not miss her content ears, as Carina smirked arrogantly at all their fellow classmates.

"Brilliant!" he shouted. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years—"

Two identically familiar gingers interrupted Lee: the twins.

"Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?" they said together faux-indignantly.

Mary, Ron, and Harry were scarlet in the face, smiling like idiots. Carina held her five-foot frame high; she needed to let the first years know who exactly they were looking at. As she craned her neck, she caught sight of someone who looked similarly as unhappy as Hermione: Percy, who was shoving people out of his path as he made his way towards them.

"Run!" roared Carina, shoving the boys towards their dormitories and grabbing Mary's arm.

"What's wrong?!" Mary said, peridot eyes wide at her platinum blonde hair.

"Percy!" Carina exclaimed, attempting to look over Mary's taller shoulders as she led her towards the stairs of the girl's dormitory.

Mary immediately stopped struggling, beginning to move as quickly as Carina was. They dashed past the girls gossiping on the staircase, accidentally hitting some of them as she and Mary shot up the stairs. Out of breath, Carina looked at Mary, who was in better condition than her, and started laughing. Mary let out a snicker and, too, dissolved into raucous laughter.

Later that evening, as she was lying in bed, Carina realized there never was a dull moment at Hogwarts—what with the unpredictability of young, reckless wizards and witches—but, there was something about being worried/fearful for her life twice in one year that made her question her choices and behaviors. That incident at the Burrow only fueled the need to berate herself—she wasn't invincible, and it was time to start acting like it.

 _ **~CFB~**_

 _ **All right, you caught me. This isn't 5000 words. I will, however, make the next chapter longer than this one. Preferably more than 6000 words, but alas, we shall see, what with Carina, Mary, and Ginny's payback looming in the air…**_

 _ **I'm still curious as to what chapter title I'll use next…maybe something from Pierce the Veil, idk. Also! I would like to incorporate Ginny a lot more than JK did, mostly because I feel she didn't get so much attention in the Chamber of Secrets. Honestly, wouldn't someone be concerned that Ginny was going crazy? Carina won't be taking Ginny's place in the book—Ginny needs attention too, k.**_

 _ **Good luck to those in school, I'm sure it's as difficult for you as it is for me.**_

 _ **Anywayyyss, see y'all next time, m'kay- Pugatron.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Props & Mayhem (With A Bit Of Humiliation)**_

Carina was not looking forward to seeing her new professor. She'd only read one of his books, and could already tell it would be a repeat of last year, in which she, Mary, and Hermione had learned from solely from the book (while forcing Ron and Harry as well). The day had almost started comically—but an unexpected letter nearly made Carina scream.

The day had begun ordinarily enough, as Carina sat in their corner of the Gryffindor table (after scaring off the first years that decided to sit there), and waited for her friends to arrive. Hermione was already there, given that her alarm clock woke them all up in the morning.

"You didn't have to scare them," berated a stiff Hermione, scooping jam onto her toast. She was obviously still mad at them for their preferred method of arrival.

"But Moony, how else were they going to leave?" replied Carina, smiling innocently at the group of traumatized eleven year olds who turned away quickly.

"I don't know," Hermione drawled sarcastically. "Maybe asking them nicely?!"

"But where's the fun in that?" smirked Carina.

Hermione was about to make a bitter retort, but Harry, Ron, and Mary joining them saved her from certain death by Moony.

"Morning," said Mary airily, sitting next to Carina.

The boys made inaudible grunts and sat across from them. Ron began pigging out, as usual, and Harry decided on some kippers and toast.

"What kind of sandwich are you making today?" asked Ron, slightly muffled from the food in his mouth.

"I think," Carina paused for suspense. "Toast, jelly, peanut butter, bacon, egg, and…"

"Ham?" suggested Mary.

Carina shook her head; that wasn't what she was craving.

"Erm, more bacon?" Ron questioned uncertainly.

"Yes!" and she crammed more bacon atop the monstrous sandwich. Left alone to her devices, she added a French toast and to top it off, a small sprinkle of confectioner's sugar.

Neville walked by greeted them cheerily.

"Mail's due any minute—I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot," said Neville, sitting next to Ron. Of course Neville would forget things—he was the most forgetful person she knew, even after herself.

As if on cue, the rushing sound of owls streaming through the large windows circled overhead, dropping letters and packages into the crowd. A large package "landed" on Neville's head, and a large gray owl crashed into Hermione's jug, spraying them with dark feathers and milk.

"You good, Neville?" asked Mary, looking pointedly at the large package.

"Fine," squeaked Neville, who had been knocked off his seat.

"Errol!" cried Ron, fishing the owl out of the wreckage by its feet. A damp scarlet letter was in his beak, making Ron drop the unconscious owl quickly.

"Oh, no—" he gasped.

"It's all right, he's still alive," said Hermione, poking Errol with the tip of her finger.

"Not that," said a spooked Neville. "That."

The once-damp red envelope was drying off quickly, much to her curiosity. Ron and Neville were tentatively looking at it, as if someone mailed them a bomb.

"What's the matter?" asked Harry, who was just as confused as they were.

"She's-she's sent me a Howler," stammered out Ron.

"You'd better open it, Ron," Neville whispered timidly. "It'll be worse if you don't—My Gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and"—he gulped—"it was horrible."

"What does a Howler do?!" Carina hissed, getting fed up over their antics and her thirst for knowledge.

Her question was ignored, as Ron still looked at the letter smoking on the wooden table.

"Open it," urged Neville. "It'll all be over in a few minutes—"

Ron anxiously reached out a trembling hand, easing the envelope out of Errol's beak, and slowly opened it. Neville shoved his fingers in his ears as an explosion sounded. Carina blanched, hair turning blonde. She looked up at the ceiling; dust had fallen as the roar from the scarlet envelope echoed across the Great Hall.

"—STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET A HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE—"

Mrs. Weasley's yells, a thousand times louder than usual, made the tables rattle and creak, as her voice boomed off the stonewalls. People were smiling and giggling as they turned quickly to see who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low off the seat, that only his bright red forehead could be seen.

Carina turned to look at the twins, who paled at their mother's screams, but then wore proud smiles as they looked down the Gryffindor table.

"—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU, CARINA, MARY, AND HARRY COULD HAVE DIED—"

She jumped slightly as her name was mentioned. Hopefully Dumbledore hadn't sent one to Ms. Campbell, who would most certainly send one to her and Mary as well. Maybe they wouldn't work for Squibs?

"—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED—YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

An inquiry? Did they inadvertently get Mr. Weasley fired? Carina couldn't stomach the guilt, but she could stomach more food as she began taking large bites of her sandwich.

The crimson letter suddenly caught on fire, sending its ashes curling onto the table. A ringing silence after made her ears feel odd. So that was what a Howler did. It was like a tidal wave had passed over the hall, as a few people laughed and began their usual chatter. At this moment, Hermione deemed it important to speak up.

"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you—"

"Don't tell me I deserved it," snarled Ron.

Professor McGonagall was moving swiftly across the Gryffindor table, handing out timetables for the year. Carina had reached for hers, and read they had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first. Perfect, her least favorite subject for over two hours. What else could go wrong? She read down the list. Great! She even had Lockhart on the same day. At least Transfiguration was after Herbology; it was her favorite class.

The disgruntled group left the castle together, crossed the vegetable patch, and made for the dim glow of the greenhouses. Hermione seemed to think they had been punished and stopped acting so cordial towards them.

Nearing the greenhouses, Carina saw Professor Sprout's arms full of bandages, and she turned to look at the Whomping Willow in the distance, branches now in slings. Carina felt no remorse towards the damned tree that almost killed them, but she did feel bad for Professor Sprout, who had to bandage it. Oddly perfect Lockhart was next to her, flashing a bright smile at the class waiting outside the greenhouses.

Professor Sprout contrasted Lockhart greatly, with dirty hands, wild, messy hair, and a patched hat. Lockhart wore long, billowing robes of bright aquamarine, golden hair glinting under a turquoise hat with gold trimming. He was far cleaner than her by a long shot.

"Oh, hello there!" smiled Lockhart, blinding them with the reflecting light of his grin. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the _right_ way to doctor a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants—"

Carina decided to cut him off there, with a perfect question.

"Wow, really?!"—She faux-gasped in surprise—"How do you _properly_ doctor a Whomping Willow, Professor Lockhart? Since you, apparently, know more about it than Professor Sprout?" Carina finished contemptuously.

Lockhart's smile melted right off his face, leaving her with a glowing sense of satisfaction as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish. Harry, Ron, and Mary burst out into laughter, making the class follow their lead. Professor Sprout looked thoroughly pleased as she too, looked at his helpless expression.

"Well—I'm sure you can read all about it in my books!" exclaimed Lockhart, reviving his sense of "knowledge".

"Greenhouse Three today, chaps!" called Professor Sprout, moving in her direction swiftly.

Greenhouse Three? Their usual place was Greenhouse One; surely there was more interesting plants there. Carina was about to move with Mary to the greenhouse, when Professor Sprout caught her shoulder quickly.

"Five points to Gryffindor, Miss Black," Professor Sprout said in a whispered smile.

Carina smiled happily at her. She got house points for mocking someone; her day had certainly improved slightly. Professor Sprout walked ahead, taking a large key from her belt and opening the door. The smell of damp earth and fertilizer mixed with sweet floral scents of umbrella-sized flowers hanging from the ceiling greeted them all. Curious, Carina moved closer to the tables, where many colorful different pots wobbled precariously. A long tray lay across one of the tables, with purplish green tufts sticking out in rows.

"Harry! I've been wanting a word—you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" rang out a voice from the entrance.

Without waiting for a reply, Lockhart fished Harry out of the crowd and dragged him by the shoulder out the door. Professor Sprout's expression morphed into a scowl and she said:

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three. I will be warning you now, there are far more dangerous plants than those of Greenhouse One." she paused as Harry entered the room, looking slightly flustered.

"Today we will be working with Mandrakes—we'll be repotting them—Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?" asked Professor Sprout.

Carina glanced around quickly. Neville looked as if he wanted to answer, but he was no match for Hermione's well-practiced hand.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione promptly, probably word for word from the textbook. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Carina snickered as Hermione nearly hit Harry as her hand shot up once more. Neville definitely had to be faster than Hermione.

"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said, fast as a bullet.

"Precisely. Take another ten points," Professor Sprout continued. "Now, the Mandrakes we have here are still very young."

Baby Mandrakes?

Professor Sprout singled out the tray of tufts Carina had been looking at earlier. Earmuffs were on the seats next to them, most likely to prevent them from hearing their "cries".

Unsure about what she meant about "cries", Carina grabbed one of the pink, fluffy pairs, as the rest grabbed the ones that weren't warm and fuzzy. What if she made her hair a nice color to match? Maybe a tamer color than the earmuffs, like bubblegum pink.

"Now, when I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs-up. Right, earmuffs on."

There was an odd sensation, in which Carina could only hear the sound of her breathing and her pulse. She decided to make her hair the soft pink, as Professor Sprout put on similar earmuffs, rolled up her dirty frayed sleeves, and pulled on the tufted plants hard.

Carina's gray eyes widened; a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth. It looked like a moldy potato, with leaves and a single stalk growing right out of his head, but with green pustules similar to a murky pond's color. Professor Sprout took a large plant pot and smashed the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, wet compost until only the tufted leaves of the stalk remained.

She dusted off her hands like nothing, and gave them all a thumbs-up. Carina reluctantly removed her earmuffs and paid attention to Professor Sprout once more.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she calmly, as if it were a regular occurrence to her of nearly being killed by a plant. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Six to a tray, and watch out for the Venomous Tentacula; it's teething."

She slapped a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making it withdraw the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her shoulder.

Carina went to move to a tray with Harry, Mary, Ron, and Hermione. A Hufflepuff boy with curly hair joined them, one who looked slightly familiar.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said brightly, shaking Harry's hand. "Know who you are of course, the famous Harry Potter…and you're Hermione Granger—always top in everything (Hermione beamed at this), Carina Black—Metamorphmagus and prankster (Carina smirked at him), Mary Fawley—brain of the operations (Mary looked slightly flustered), and Ron Weasley, wasn't that your flying car?"

Ron didn't smile. Carina laughed at his face, of course he was still feeling the aftermath of that Howler.

"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" said Justin happily, as they began filling plant pots with dragon dung compost.

"If by something, you mean an awful fraud," laughed Carina.

"No; haven't you read his books? Awfully brave chap. I'd have died of fear if I'd been cornered into a telephone booth by a werewolf, but he stayed cool-zap-just fantastic."

"Didn't you hear my question outside? Was that in any of his books?" asked Carina, laughter dying down; obviously Justin was a fan-girl.

"Possibly, I haven't read them all, of course. My name was down for Eton, you know. I can't tell you how glad I am that I came here instead. Of course, Mother was slightly disappointed, but since I made her read Lockhart's books I think she's begun to see how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family…" continued Justin, as if Carina hadn't said anything in the first place.

After his short conversation, their earmuffs were back on, and Carina was having difficulty getting the first Mandrake into her blue pot. It fought and fought like crazy trying to avoid getting in. Professor Sprout had made it look easy, a simple in and out action, but the damned plant kept fighting with all its might.

At the end of the period, Carina was tired and sweaty like everyone else. She'd only managed to get one of them in a pot (Hermione had finished more than five, and Neville several trays), but at least it was over.

Her favorite class was next, Transfiguration. She was particularly gifted in Transfiguration; it was like a natural calling she couldn't quite explain. It was also the only class in which Carina had a better grade than Hermione, a fact that irritated her very much.

"You don't even study!" Hermione exclaimed, rushing to McGonagall's class after their brief shower.

"I don't need to, and besides, Transfiguration is easy!" said Carina, rolling her eyes.

"Lucky," said Ron. "I'll never get it."

"Not with that attitude," Mary sniffed disapprovingly. Hermione smiled at that remark.

"Hey, maybe you'll get it this year," said Harry, attempting to cheer Ron up.

"It's all about your concentration and how much power you put into the spell; too much and it'll go completely wrong but too little and it doesn't get completely transfigured," explained Carina. "Oh and don't forget to make precise movements, not wave your wand around like in Charms."

"Wow, can you explain that, but slower," said Ron, drawing out a parchment.

"It's only what Minnie has been saying since last year, but oh well," Carina said dully. They had reached the classroom, where the rest of the students were waiting.

As she repeated what she had once said, the door to Professor McGonagall's classroom opened, greeting them with the stern face of their strict Transfiguration teacher.

"Excellent explanation, Miss Black, but Mr. Weasley, please do take notes in my classroom. And do not call me Minnie," she said, looking over their heads as they poured into the room. Carina moved to sit next to Harry, who was sat next to Ron. Mary sat with Hermione and another girl in their year and dorm, Lavender Brown.

"Today you will be turning a beetle into a button," said Professor McGonagall, commandeering attention as she shut the door with a wave of her wand.

"I assume you remember the equation for Transfiguration from your first year, which equals to Wand Power multiplied by Concentration divided by Viciousness and Body Weight multiplied together and then completely multiplied by the variable, Z, which measures creativity and definition of the transfiguring process for the finished product," she continued, pausing to draw a breath.

Ron was scribbling furiously onto his parchment, notes looking a mess and somewhat having a lack of defined structure. Harry looked like someone hit him with a rogue Bludger, taking short bullet points of the equation for his notes. They both had similarly clueless faces as to what Minnie was going on about.

"Now, Mr. Thomas, please give everyone a beetle. I shall be monitoring your work which should be finished before the lesson ends," said Professor McGonagall, pointing to a white cardboard box on her desk.

Carina looked at her table partners and sighed. They certainly were not going to be able to turn their beetle into a button.

Dean walked by and handed her a bright pink beetle, the same as her long wavy hair. She shot him a smirk and he winked at her, making her laugh. Soon, the classroom was full of dastardly attempts to desperately change their beetle into a button, but Carina decided to help Harry and Ron, who looked like they were really struggling.

"What's up with your wand?" asked Carina, looking at the poorly attached, abused stick of wood that was spitting green sparks everywhere.

"Stupid—" Ron smacked it against the desk. "Useless—" Again. "Thing—" Once more. "Won't work!"

Deciding Ron's wand was beyond anyone's help, she turned to Harry, who was making his beetle scuttle around as it avoided being jabbed by his wand.

"What are you doing, Prongs?" laughed Carina.

Harry flushed and said, "Turning a beetle into a button."

"Well, giving a beetle exercise is the first step!" she said with amusement.

Harry scowled at her and she returned to her own beetle, which was glittering a pretty pink color. She thought for second, picturing the beetle as a shimmering rose pink coat button.

" _Coliobulus!"_ she exclaimed, giving the beetle a sharp jab with her rowan and phoenix feather wand.

The beetle was scuttling like normal—until the white light engulfed the exoskeleton and died down as the button landed with a pleasant clatter. It had a small trimming of black, with pink swirling floral designs along the interior of the button, the petals lined with dark curves, the two small holes in which to sew into located at the center of the rose decorations. The underside was a solid black color, which was visible as Harry lifted the button to inspect it.

"It's pretty," he said, looking at his own green beetle dejectedly.

"Do you remember the equation? It's not exactly precise, as a theory, but it makes it simpler to understand," said Carina, raising a pink brow.

"Erm, so I just have to imagine it as a button?" asked Harry, looking at her bewilderedly.

"Don't forget the other things, like wand power and movements, it's meant to be fast and simple," she replied, leaving him to his devices.

Professor McGonagall walked along, lifting her button with a scrutinizing eye, but set it down on her table, and handed Carina her pink button.

"Very nice, Miss Black, please do the opposite of this spell, and turn it back into a beetle," said Professor McGonagall, waiting expectantly.

"Um, alright," said Carina, a bit startled that she had asked for her to do that.

Carina tried to form the equation, that instead of a button, she saw the pink shimmering exoskeleton of the once beetle. She did the opposite movement of the original, but uttered a different spell.

" _Exero Sacarobulus,"_ A spell she made up using the usual Transfiguaration terms.

The button gave a violent clatter as it cracked into a beetle once more, scuttling around with its oddly colored exoskeleton.

Professor McGonagall looked slightly surprised, but lifted the beetle carefully. She poked and prodded it, turned it round and round again, before finally getting another beetle, this one a cerulean blue.

"Continue making buttons, Miss Black," she said simply, walking back to her desk with the transfigured beetle.

And so the hour of changing beetles to buttons endured.

~CFB~

Ron kept moaning about his broken wand throughout lunch, making Carina grow a bit irritated. To distract herself, she changed her hair many colors, finally settling on a nice lilac shade.

"What class've we got next?" asked Mary, setting down her golden spoon into the likewise golden bowl.

"Lockhart!" shouted Hermione, looking up from her book as Mary finished her words.

Ron took her timetable quickly, while Harry sent her an inquiring glance.

"Moony, why have you gone and dotted all of Lockhart's lessons with little hearts?" demanded Ron, sounding rather disgusted.

"Oohh…someone likes Lockhart…" snickered Mary, while Carina choked on her sandwich.

"Help meh," croaked out Carina, struggling as laughter and food constricted her airway.

" _Anapneo,"_ hissed a flushed Hermione.

The offending mass disappeared from her throat, leaving Carina to cough her lungs out. Her rough coughs turned into barking laughter as she continued to look at Hermione's red face.

"Let's go outside," Harry said, dropping his fourth half-eaten sandwich.

They walked into the courtyard, which had several oak trees and stone statues and benches littered throughout it. Hermione had returned to her book, which coincidentally was one of Lockhart's, Voyages with Vampires. Mary led her to a bench, where she began arguing about how dark chocolate was the worst kind of chocolate possible.

"How can you say that?!" screeched Mary. "Dark chocolate is the best thing to ever grace this earth. Milk chocolate is cloyingly sweet, I don't know how you can eat so much of the stuff."

"Um, I think you're talking about milk chocolate, Leo," scoffed Carina. "Dark chocolate is bitter, horrible, and tasteless. How can you possibly enjoy it?!"

"Well, first off, it's good for you, second, the bitterness makes it enjoyable!" Mary exclaimed. "Then you can add sweeter things to it, like raspberry filling or caramel!"

"NO!" bellowed Carina. "Caramel belongs to milk chocolate! Adding it to dark chocolate is an insult to milk chocolate-lovers everywhere!"

"Caramel isn't bound to a certain type of chocolate," said Mary, narrowing her eyes.

"Neither is raspberry filling," retorted Carina.

"But you can seriously add dark chocolate to anything you want, and it'll taste good!" Mary said, exasperated. "And, they use it to make chocolate chip cookies and cakes!"

"Milk chocolate is creamy and sweet; dark chocolate is bitter and not sweet." Carina replied stiffly.

"You like bitter coffee and tea! How can you not like dark chocolate?!" groaned Mary, fed up with the argument.

"There's a fine line between good and bad," said Carina simply. "And I like my coffee with two sugars."

Mary opened her mouth in an attempt to defend dark chocolate once more, but Malfoy's loud exclamation caused all chatter to stop in the courtyard.

"Everyone line up! Harry Potter's giving out signed photos!"

Carina leapt to Harry's side, as he growled back, "No, I'm not. Shut up Malfoy."

"Famous Potter, can't even walk around a courtyard without signing pictures of himself," drawled Malfoy, clearly enjoying the agitated look on Harry's face. A small mousy boy stood next to him, holding a very large camera, one that looked as if it were from when Dumbledore was a kid!

"You're just jealous!" squeaked the boy, whose body was at least the diameter of Crabbe's neck.

" _Jealous_?" Malfoy repeated, a dead calm look poised on his pointed face. "Of what? I don't think getting your head cut open makes you that special, myself."

Crabbe and Goyle began snickering like dumb trolls—and Carina would know; one nearly killed her the year before.

 _ **Harry is by far more significant than he will ever be.**_

Hair black, and eyes blazing, she bitterly replied, "Oh yes, there's something absolutely special about a blond ferret that did nothing to contribute to the fall of Voldemort."

This caused Malfoy to narrow his eyes at her, and his goons to crack their knuckles menacingly. Several of the Slytherins listening in quickly turned to their previous positions and others began looking at them warily. The mousy boy was looking at her with an astonished face; probably never heard of a Metamorphmagus before.

"Go on then," challenged Ron, Spellotaped wand held high. "Try us, why don't you."

"Potter, Weasley would like one of those signed photos—probably cost more than his house—" continued Malfoy with a hint of malice, clearly not intimidated by Ron or Carina.

A snap suddenly caught Carina's hand in place from reaching her wand. Hermione had slammed her book shut as a horribly unwelcome person approached: Lockhart.

"Who's giving out signed photos?" he asked, waving his arms around in an excited manner.

Poor Harry had opened his mouth to reply, but Lockhart rapidly saw the movement.

"Needn't have asked!" boomed Lockhart, putting his arm around Harry. "We meet again, Harry!"

"Actually, I was giving out signed photos," said Carina, flashing a faux-cheerful smile at him. "Um—" She pointed at the mousy boy. "He was just asking about my abilities!" laughed Carina convincingly.

"Oh erm, yeah!" said Harry, laughing awkwardly with her as he caught along. "Colin here, has never seen a Metamorphmagus before!"

"And they're pretty rare, so it's an odd occurrence to meet one," chimed Mary, contributing to Harry's aid.

"Really, a Metamorphmagus?" Lockhart said, clearly not believing them.

"Yeah!" said Ron, finally understanding their plan.

On cue, Carina made her hair the shade of lilac it had been before Malfoy had irritated her. Lockhart's blue eyes widened in shock, and slowly, a large smile began to break out on his face.

"My, oh my, Miss Black!" he said, pausing to chuckle. "How did you know that was my favorite color?!"

Humiliated, Carina quickly hid her flush of embarrassment as he hooked her to his other arm and pulled Harry close to him. Malfoy slunk into the crowd, a wide smirk pulling his sharp features oddly.

"Come on now, Mr. Creevey, a shot of me, Mr. Potter, and Miss Black! And we'll even sign it for you!" said Lockhart, holding them in his iron tight grip.

Colin fumbled with his camera for a bit, and took the picture, smiling widely at the lot of them. Carina quickly tugged her arm out of Lockhart's grasp as the bell signaling the time for classes rang. Nostrils flaring, she made her hair the darkest shade of black she could think of, and her eyes a deep bloody red. Perhaps sharpened teeth would top it off, as to terrify those who would try and taunt her. Let anyone mess with her now, she thought savagely.

Stalking away from the walking disaster that was Professor Lockhart, she begrudgingly made her way towards Colin Creevey. He would most definitely know what a Metamorphmagus was by the time she was finished. He was rounding a corner, when she caught his shoulder. Startled, the poor first year looked up at her terrified.

"Do not let anyone see that photo unless I see it first, got it?" Carina snarled, showing off her pointed teeth. "Don't let me hear about it around Gryffindor Tower or it'll be an unpleasant experience."

Colin nodded furiously, and ran off to his next class. She let out a sigh. Scaring first years was nice, but not when they had blackmail to use against her! Making her way towards the now open classroom, she barely made it in as the tardy bell rang. Heaving an exasperated groan, Carina went to sit next to Harry, who was still a faint shade of pink. Hermione moved next to her, and Mary went to sit next to Ron.

"You look kind of pissed, Padfoot," said Mary, looking pointedly at her teeth that she'd forgotten to change back.

"I was scaring first years," she said simply, as if that cleared up the matter.

"Ah," said Harry, catching her drift.

Lockhart finally strode into the classroom, and grabbed one of the copies of his books from Neville's desk.

"Me," he began, as if he would begin class any other way. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award—but let's not talk about that, I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"

He paused, as if any of them were going to laugh at his pitiful attempt at humor.

"I doubt he got rid of it at all," Carina whispered loudly, causing them all to snicker silently, except for Hermione, of course.

"I see you've all bought all of my books, well done. I thought we'd start off today with a little quiz nothing to worry about, just checking how well you've read…" he trailed off, handing them a lengthy 'quiz'. Three papers long, to be exact.

"Aaaannnddd start!" he called, as if Carina really cared anyways.

The first question was very ridiculous, "What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?"

Sadly, she actually knew the answer from his outburst about her hair in the courtyard. Sometimes, Carina hated being kinda smart. Lilac, egh. Well, at least she wouldn't dare make any part of her anatomy that color with Lockhart in the castle. The next question was equally as ridiculous, and it seemed the entire quiz was exactly the same.

Carina was not going to insult her intelligence by answering any portion of that god-forsaken test. Glancing around, most of her classmates thought the same thing; this test was freaking pointless. Hermione seemed to be answering them diligently, as she was already on the second paper.

Not long after Carina noticed Hermione dot the final "I" on her paper, Lockhart deemed it time to pick up all of the quizzes. He strode back to the front of the class, where he read through all of the papers quickly, praising Hermione for her perfect quiz.

Not surprisingly, Carina zoned out a while before, around the time he started talking about harmony, and she focused intently on the spider spinning a web in the far corner of the room. A shuffling garnered her attention however, as her classmates began to lean towards the mysterious cage that appeared on Lockhart's desk when she wasn't paying attention.

Its ominous demeanor made them almost fall out of their seats, and Carina definitely wanted to know what was under the tarp.

~CFB~

 _ **Oops! I kind of forgot about this fanfic because of semester exam prep, so I won't be making promises for consistent updates, but I could update more if I make them shorter. So, either a wait for 5k words, or consistent 1-3k word chapters. Nothing under 1k; no worries!**_

 _ **~pugatron~**_


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